Do you retire in the evening, your hands daubed in shea
butter, encased in fine cotton gloves? No, nor I. Which I regret
as a nocturnal ritual, because as soon as I hit 30 I looked at the
back of my hands and saw the paws of a 50 year old welder. I have
bulbous knuckles and crow’s legs for fingers, each clad with thin,
loose and incredibly wrinkled skin, freckled with the odd tonal
blemish. Not very attractive!
To be fair on skin, it has to work damn hard. It's thick in some
places and stupidly thin in others. Some of it is covered in hair,
some of it not. Patches of facial skin will be simultaneously oily
and spotty, with other patches dry and flaky. All in all, skin contradicts
itself perpetually.
What I didn’t know is that the skin is the body’s heaviest and
largest organ. It weighs 4-5 kg, and has a total surface area of
around two metres square, roughly the size of my bathroom. The skin
is composed of two layers, the epidermis and the dermis. The epidermis
is the outermost layer and acts as a protective barrier, insulating
and preventing us from drying out. Skin is thickest on the palms
and soles and thinnest on the lips and around the eyes.
We each have around 300 million skin cells, which gradually regenerate
(around every 50 days). This process keeps the dust mites in your
carpet very content as they digest the constant shower of microscopic
flakes.
Skin Baddies
A major cause of ageing skin is ultraviolet light, specifically UVA. UVA penetrates deeper than UVB and damages the dermis, including the elastine which causes wrinkling and thinning. UVB causes pigmentation
changes (liver spots or sunspots) and burns the skin. Unsurprisingly your face and hands (especially
mine) take the brunt of everyday sun strain. A good general
tip is to wear sunscreen or a good handcream with an SPF factor that blocks both UVA and UVB.
Other skin enemies include cigarettes and alcohol - not very rock
'n' roll.
Servicing your skin
Your skin reflects your health. So if you suddenly breakout in something
nasty - or flaky, then you need to look at your lifestyle, predominantly
what does and doesn't go into your system.
Drink plenty of water to keep your skin hydrated. A glass of water
with and between each meal does the trick. It's like changing the
oil, only you do it daily. You need Vitamin B to maintain healthy
skin. Sources of vitamin B include; bananas, lentils, chili peppers,
tempeh, liver, turkey, brewers yeast, Vegemite and Marmite.
Descaling always feels nice, more so when you see the results gracefully
adorning the inside of your bath tub (or is that just me?). This
is especially important if you are over 30 as the skin’s natural
ability to get rid of dead skin is impaired (which also makes it
look dull). After you have exfoliated, moisturise your whole body,
best after a warm shower/bath.
And when it comes to you hands you should moisturise them after
every single wash! If you are really good you will wear gloves when
you wash up too - or you'll end up with hands like mine!
Save your skin:
read more about hydrating your epidermis!
Give yourself a hand: Check out our hand cream reviews